| Summary: | A chronological history of Almont, North Dakota with family biographies. 109 pages : illustrated 29 cm. Mr. and Mrs. Christ Kaelberer left Germany in 1894 looking for better opportunities. They settled in Wis. and stayed a few years. Then came to N. D. and homesteaded in 1896 eight miles east of Almont. Their homestead house was built of good N. D. sod. Later on they built a log house, and in 1906 they built a good N. D. house which is still on the homestead. One winter when they still were living in the sod house, the snow was so deep that the house and barn were completely covered with snow. The next morning they had to dig their way out of the house and into the barn. Their children were: Minnie, now Mrs. Dan Zwicher, living on a farm in Sherrard, Illinois; Christ, farming and J. I. case farm machinery dealer in New Salem; Fritz, operating a coal mine northeast of Almont Herman, farming and county commissioner; and John E., deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Gust Kaelberer Sr. Mr. and Mrs. Gust Kaelberer Sr., and family of four children came to the Almont community in 1906 from St. Paul, Minn., where Mr. Kaelberer had been employed as a carpenter. Even though they had no experience as farmers, they decided they could improve their lot by farming and they took up a homestead five miles east of Almont, which was just being founded. The children that were born in St. Paul were: Pauline, now Mrs. Chas. Benishek who lives in New Salem; Charles, deceased; Tillie, now Mrs. Wm. Witzfeld of Sentinel Butte; Ted, now a parochial teacher at Hannover. Three children were born on the family homestead: John, who operates a part of the original farm; Erhard, now a Lutheran minister located at Deadwood, S. D.; and Reinhard, who also operates a part of the original farm near Almont. Mr. Kaelberer passed away in 1942 and Mrs. Kaelberer in 1950. nine miles east of Almont, on Sept. 8, 1887. When he was seventeen years old, his father, his brother and he went to St. Paul, Minn, to make their home. There they worked in a glue and furniture factory. Two years later Emil came back to N. D. and worked on the farm of Mrs. Fred Lieb. On June 14, 1908 he and Miss Minnie Lieb were united in marriage. A year later they filed on a homestead fourteen miles southeast of Almont, near the Heart river and Beaver creek. He started to farm with three horses and a walking plow. The buildings were a two-room house and a sod barn. There were no roads, only trails leading over the prairie, and people passed by the Keller farm on their way to the twin cities of Mandan and Bismarck. The Kellers did most of their trading in Almont, traveling with horse and buggy or wagon, as they hauled their grain and lumber out for new buildings. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Keller: Evelyn who remains at home with her parents; Kathryn, who married Roy Kaho- vec, and lives on a nearby farm; and Norman, who is married to Ardythe Rogers, and lives in Hettinger, N. D. The Keller family are members of the Wesieyan Methodist Church. They have now lived on the homestead forty-eight years, and enjoy modern improvements and possible irrigation of their land. Mr. and Mrs. Emil Keller Emil Keller was born on a farn: Mr. and Mrs. Henry Keller Mr. Keller was born in 1881 in the Red River Valley. He was a- mong the first immigrants to come to New Salem by covered wagon. He was a year and a half old when he made this journey in the year of 1883. His parents settled on a homestead south of New Salem, which is now the location of the Bethel Church. He stayed here until he grew into manhood. Mr. Keller took a homestead in 1903 under the Homestead Act and worked this land for five years before the government approved the land to be his. His homestead was located six miles east of Almont, which is now known as Rocky Ridge. Mrs. Keller, formerly Mary Lieb, was born in Fenton, Iowa. She moved to New Salem with her parents in the Old Frontier Days of 1904. Mary was 15 years old when she made this trip with her parents. December 20, 1906 was the date of the wedding of Mary Lieb and Mr. Henry Keller. They lived on the homestead that Mr. Keller had gotten through the Homestead Act. They later added to the amount of land and they built a new barn in 1910 and a new house a few years later, but in the meantime they lived in the home that Mr. Keller had built when he got the homestead. The new house is completely modern. Six children were born into the family. They are as follows: Florence, Mrs. Wm. L. Joersz, whose husband manages Bill's Super Valu in Mandan; Elmer, who is on a farm 14 miles south of Judson; Edna, now known as Mrs. Monson, lives on a farm 7V-* miles northeast of Flasher. Henry, Jr., lives on a farm that is just one mile from the old homestead of his parents. Leo, who is the youngest of the children lives on the land that his father worked for so many years. Mr. and Mrs. Keller are now retired and are residents of 1110-1 St. N. W. in Mandan. They will be celebrating their Golden Wedding Anniversary Dec. 20 of this year. Mr. and Mrs. C. E. Kelsven Clifford Kelsven, born in Jackson County, Minn., lived with his parents on a farm near Crookston, Minn, until he was 21 when he left the farm to go into merchandising. He worked in stores at Jud and Berlin, S. D. and came to Almont in Feb., 1913 when he began his first General Mdse. business in the store that was previously owned and operated by Fred Holritz and sons. June 25, 1913 he was married to Miss Katherine McRae at Jud, N. D. He brought his bride here to Herman Kaelberer Commissioner District C. — Morton County New Salem, N. D. Page 88 Scanned with a Zeutschel Zeta book scanner at 300 dpi. Edited with Multi-Page TIFF Editor.
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